Windhoek
The country’s first-ever conference on social protection – which is expected to, among others, take stock of what has been achieved in the area of social protection -is scheduled to take place in July.
The conference scheduled for July 7 to 9 here will also deliberate on future prospects in the context of global developments in this area with the aim of strengthening the country’s social protection system.
“The key objective of the conference is to disseminate important achievements in the area of social protection in Namibia and to deliberate on crucial areas of dynamic and comprehensive social protection in Namibia through raising awareness on what it is and what it attempts to achieve,” announced Rino Muranda, the Manager for Communication and Marketing at the Social Security Commission (SSC).
He said the ultimate desire is to have social protection feature prominently in the long-term development plans, as a formidable intervention for tackling inequality, social exclusion and poverty.
Nearly 250 key stakeholders, including members of the public, are expected to be part of this conference themed “Towards comprehensive social protection for all”.
He also stressed the importance of bringing the concept of social protection closer to “the person on the street”.
Muranda termed the upcoming conference a “ground-breaking conference, which will be a first for Namibia”.
Key features of the conference include exploring the benefits of delivering efficient social protection services and “reviewing lessons learned and charting the way forward for Namibia”.
The chairperson of the Social Protection Committee at the Social Security Commission, Olga Katjiuongua, highlighted that discussions will be recorded for the benefit of compiling a comprehensive national strategy for social protection.